A Design Perspective For IoT Products. A case study of the Design of a Smart Product and a Smart Company following a crowdfunding campaign.

This paper analyses the role of Design in the development of smart and interactive products for the consumer market, a context in which technology is the leading component. The outcomes are often tech gadgets lacking meaningful value for users and thanks to the democratization of production methods and crowdfunding platforms their diffusion is exponential. By presenting the case study of Thingk - a company derived from a crowdfunded project - this paper highlights how the user feedback gathered during crowdfunding impacted the design process and the evolution of the final product.